Day: May 16, 2017

Closing Thought–16May17

The big story right now is the meeting between Trump and the Russians in the Oval office…..the media and Twitter are going batcrap crazy over this breach of protocol…..for one allowing the Russians into the Oval Office without any good guys but allowing Tass, Russian news agency, to bring in a camera crew…..and did Trump or did he not divulge some sort of intel or worse?

The Washington Post this afternoon published a stunning story reporting that President Trump disclosed highly-classified information to Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and Ambassador Sergey Kislyak during their visit to the Oval Office last week.

According to the Post,

In his meeting with Lavrov, Trump seemed to be boasting about his inside knowledge of the looming threat. “I get great intel. I have people brief me on great intel every day,” Trump said, according to an official with knowledge of the exchange.

Trump went on to discuss aspects of the threat that the United States only learned through the espionage capabilities of a key partner. He did not reveal the specific intelligence gathering method, but described how the Islamic State was pursuing elements of a specific plot and how much harm such an attack could cause under varying circumstances. Most alarmingly, officials said, Trump revealed the city in the Islamic State’s territory where the U.S. intelligence partner detected the threat.

The Washington Post is withholding most plot details, including the name of the city, at the urging of officials who warned that revealing them would jeopardize important intelligence capabilities.

This needs to be investigated……I know his brainless followers think not but ignore them for most are brain dead…….

Ask….why would Trump do this thing?

Option # 1: Trump didn’t really know what he was doing

Trump is not someone who spends much time learning the intricacies of diplomacy and information sharing. He ran as a candidate who eschewed any sort of formal briefings, believing that his gut instincts were the best guide he could have.
Given that, it’s uniquely possible he didn’t know that what he was doing by apparently disclosing this sort of top secret information to a country that may well not have America’s best interests at heart.
Maybe he wanted to impress Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov and Russian Ambassador to the US Sergey Kislyak with his knowledge — and what better way to do so than to tell them a tidbit of information they didn’t know?

Option #2: Trump knew what he was doing

Democrats have insisted for months that there are simply too many connections between Trumpworld and the Russians for moments like this to be coincidences. As in, where there’s smoke and smoke and smoke and smoke, there has to be fire.
“As Yogi Berra said, ‘It’s too much of a coincidence to be a coincidence,'” House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi told CNN’s Chris Cuomo in an interview in Washington Monday night. Later, she added: “Every day I ask the question: What do the Russians have on Donald Trump? He’s always catering to them.”
(cnn.com)

I would wait for a verdict but then McMasters came out and said he was in the meeting and nothing happened…..my problem is he was reading from notes as he spoke…..why would you need notes if you were there?

And then Trump threw McMasters under the bus with two tweets……

His two–tweet defense, when combined: “As President I wanted to share with Russia (at an openly scheduled W.H. meeting) which I have the absolute right to do, facts pertaining to terrorism and airline flight safety. Humanitarian reasons, plus I want Russia to greatly step up their fight against ISIS & terrorism.”

He, Trump, just does not know when to shut the f*ck up!

Eventually the people around him will get tired of being f*cked over by this guy and will turn on him.

“Loose Lips Sink Ships”

The title is from a poster printed during the WW2 era.

They say that it is the “Ship of State”….and our ship has sprung a leak……

Where does all this tie together?

Well, it seems that Trump and his cronies are concerned about all the leaks that are pouring out of the White House……it is so bad that the Trump White House is said to be the leakiest one in history.

While journalists always like having as many sources as they can, time constraints usually mean each story will rely on only a few (sometimes as few as one). Five is better, 10 is fantastic. But recently we’ve seen lines like this one, from a Washington Post article examining the behind-the-scenes scrambling around the firing of FBI Director James Comey, particularly regarding the utterly implausible line the White House was putting out about how and why Comey was sacked: “But the private accounts of more than 30 officials at the White House, the Justice Department, the FBI, and on Capitol Hill, as well as Trump confidants and other senior Republicans, paint a conflicting narrative centered on the president’s brewing personal animus toward Comey.”

Thirty officials! There are some seriously loose lips in this administration. And for that, we should be thankful.

Source: Why this is the leakiest White House in history

Trump and his cronies, and that includes those freaks that are still his ardent supporters, are all butt hurt because the these leaks.

The endless whining as they dash to the nearest camera to get on the evening news……it is all so humorous…..well according to them it will be the ruination of our society.

I say humorous because if the election had gone the other way these same naysayers would be applauding the leaks and nominating some of the reports for the Pulitzer.

This is all so fascinating to watch…it is truly like the train wreck in slow motion that you cannot look away from……

I love it!

Time For Congress To Stand Up

For a decade I have been harping on the cowardliness of the Congress for allowing wars to be fought without any authorization except that the president wants it.

Since 2003 I have been calling the Congress spineless, cowardly, do-nothing, etc because they neglect their duty …..the duty to declare war.

I will say that there are a few in Congress that are trying to do the right thing….among those is Rep. Tulsi Gabbard,…..these responsible Americans are demanding that the Congress stand up and do the right thing…..

Anyone who has served in the U.S. armed forces is familiar with completing an Operations Order (OPORD). Spelling out the situation, mission, execution, sustainment, and command and control enables our Army to “fight and win our Nation’s wars.” For our troops in harm’s way in Syria right now, the mission has not been spelled out and Congress, by ignoring its responsibilities to authorize and exercise oversight over the use of military force, is responsible. History has shown us that when Congress neglects its duty, our troops are at an avoidable strategic disadvantage.

For a prime example of this dynamic, we need look no further than the Vietnam War. In the jungles of Southeast Asia, the United States gradually built up its activities with no clear direction from Congress. The result of this legislative negligence was a bloody, deadly, and tragic waste of resources. One does not have to look hard to see the parallel in Syria. Over the years, a steady trickle of troops were committed as the United States sought to train “moderate rebels.” Where does this path lead?

In the wake of the failures of Vietnam, Congress attempted to reassert its authority over war-making with the 1973 War Powers Resolution. Seeking to prevent further failures in Syria, Congress likewise needs to reclaim its war powers through a new Authorization for Use of Military Force (AUMF). The time for this is now.

Source: Congress Needs to Stand Up and Reclaim its Authorities on Making War

If you agree then let your voice be heard to your representatives in DC….call, write, text, email whatever it takes for the cowards to get the message.

Just DO IT!

What Is The Anti-ISIS Plan?

I have asked before and now I ask again………

Just once….someone have a plan!

There has not been a major terrorist attack in awhile now and the world is not thinking about it right now.  No, they are thinking about elections or fired bureaucrats or nukes or…..well you got the picture right?

But while we are laser focused on other situations the war on terror rages on and one….now I want to ask….what is the plan to defeat ISIS and the after time?

I keep asking what the plan could be because eventually someone will have a plan and all my questions will be answered…..(Really?  I am old, do I really have that much time to wait?)

(Pause here for some thought….not that anyone will take the opportunity to do so)

The plan so far is as follows……

The U.S.-led strategy to defeat the Islamic State (IS) — a hybrid insurgent-terrorist group that as of mid-2016 controls territory in both Iraq and Syria — has been criticized for a lack of clarity, overemphasis on tactical objectives, and insufficient attention to the underlying causes of the greater civil conflict across both Iraq and Syria. This report assesses the current strategy and presents three options for a new strategy. Each of these options, derived from subject-matter-expert input, represents a broad strategic approach to defeating IS. Continuous counterterror focuses on containing and suppressing IS while accepting ongoing instability in Iraq and Syria. Practical stability seeks to reestablish the pre–Arab Spring order in Iraq and Syria, building stable states at the probable expense of democracy and human rights. The report recommends the third option: Legitimated stability. This approach pursues a long-term strategy that seeks to address the root causes of the conflicts in Iraq and Syria, reconciling the disenfranchised Sunni Arab populations with their governments, and thereby removing the conditions that allowed IS to emerge and thrive. Other alternatives that fail to address root cause issues are likely to condemn the U.S. and its allies to continual crisis and unpredictable and unending reinvestment of resources, with little real gain in security or reduction in international terror.

There it is….the strategy.

Not one of the so-called experts has bothered to think of a couple of things…..if they, ISIS, is defeated then what?

The RAND group has made a few recommendations…..

  • The National Security Council should lead a full-scope, bottom-up review of the strategy to counter IS. This review should address specific issues with the current strategy, including a lack of internal consistency in objectives, poorly defined objectives, and a narrow focus on defeating and destroying IS with insufficient emphasis on changing the conditions that allow such groups to exist and thrive.
  • The best way to reduce and, eventually, end insurgency and terrorism is to address root causes or, at least, to establish legitimate and capable governance. Stability is most consistent and enduring when it emerges naturally from popular satisfaction with governance and other socioeconomic conditions, rather than from government oppression or military action by external powers.
  • The legitimated stability option acknowledges that the best way to reduce and, eventually, end insurgency and terrorism is to address root causes or, at least, to establish legitimate and capable governance. The aim of this strategy is to establish legitimate governments in Iraq and Syria. Each government would be capable of addressing Sunni disenfranchisement while protecting the rights of all other groups. Ultimately, strong and legitimate central governments — perhaps federated or confederated to address regional challenges within each state — will reduce the current, dangerous emphasis on ethnosectarian identity politics and violence.

I cannot emphasized enough that there must be a plan or this scenario will continued to be replayed over sand over….

We should demand an end to the “Bait and Switch” attitude that we have been employing now for over a decade.

Source: The Bait-and-Switch ‘War on Terror’ – Consortiumnews

This attitude has accomplished nothing!

We are better than this.

And the peasants could care less.

HUMINT?

I know….what the Hell is HUMINT?

First, in my days with military intelligence (no not the oxymoron) we dealt with human intelligence(HUMINT)…..that is intel gathered from human resources….or as defined by the CIA……

Human intelligence (HUMINT) is defined as any information that can be gathered from human sources.

The National Clandestine Service (NCS) is the branch of the CIA responsible for the collection of HUMINT. The NCS is charged with strengthening national security and foreign policy objectives through the clandestine collection of HUMINT.

HUMINT is collected through:

  • Clandestine acquisition of photography, documents, and other material
  • Overt collection by people overseas
  • Debriefing of foreign nationals and U.S. citizens who travel abroad
  • Official contacts with foreign governments

The NCS officers responsible for collecting HUMINT are called Operations Officers. They focus on acquiring information from individuals with access to vital foreign intelligence on the full range of national security issues.

To be successful, NCS officers must understand one of the most complex aspects of running assets — human nature. Emotions, intentions and motivations differ from person-to-person and change overtime. Understanding people, with all of their complexities, is crucial to the business of running assets to collect HUMINT.

Collection methods can take place in a variety of ways, including in-person meetings. Some HUMINT operations are short in duration, while others take years. Through it all, NCS officers must understand and assess the intentions and motivations of their assets, as well as the authenticity of the intelligence they provide. The most successful HUMINT sources provide volumes of intelligence responsive to Intelligence Community requirements.

Okay, does that help?

This technique was all but abandoned when Reagan came to power….his CIA chief, Turner, did not place much confidence in HUMINT….he thought that SIGINT would be a better place to put the funding.

He was wrong and since those days we are struggling to find human resources for intel gathering…we lost a whole generation of 2nd generation Americans that spoke these languages they way they are suppose to be spoken not from some school.

WE have yet to return to the adequate state of our HUMINT that we had before 1980…..and that is the cause of many of the problems we are having with our intel gathering.